German flying taxi startup Volocopter GmbH said today it has raised €50 million ($55.1 million) in new funding to assist it to bring its aircraft to commercial launch in the next three years.

The Series C round was led by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd. and included Daimler AG. Geely is best known in the West as being the owner of Volvo and Lotus, while Daimler owns Mercedes-Benz.

Founded in 2011, Volocopter is developing and building electric air taxis and what it describes as an “ecosystem surrounding urban air mobility.” “Urban” is key to the company’s pitch because of issues with electric air transport, since limitations in battery technology limit range.

Looking like a giant drone with seating for two people, the prototype Pre-Series 2X model was introduced in Dubai in 2017. In August, the company announced a newer prototype called VoloCity with a longer range — 22 miles versus 17 miles with the previous model — and an airspeed of 68 miles per hour. The company is pitching VoloCity as its first commercial aircraft, though it’s still three years away from commercial availability.

“Urban mobility needs to evolve in the next few years to meet rising demand,” Florian Reuter, chief executive officer of Volocopter, said in a statement. “With our Volocopter air taxis, we are adding a whole new level of mobility in the skies. This funding round is allowing us to take great strides towards bringing Urban Air Mobility to life.”

Geely’s lead in the round is not a simple investment, with both companies entering a joint venture to bring Volocopter’s technology to the Chinese market. Whether that means Geely will be manufacturing Volocopters in China is not clear, but given mainland China foreign company access rules, it will most certainly involve Volocopter handing over access to its technology.

Flying taxis, though more difficult to deliver, have in some ways reflected the autonomous vehicle market: full of promise but short on delivery. One of the players in flying taxi development is Uber Technologies Inc., which signed a collaboration deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2017.

Image: Volocopter